Morning Briefing: Tragedy in UK assists market gains

by Steve Randall17 Jun 2016

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Morning Briefing: Tragedy in UK assists market gains

Tragedy in UK assists market gains
The murder of a British politician has been condemned by world leaders as an attack on democracy. MP Jo Cox was stabbed and shot by an attacker Thursday and analysts believe it could impact the Brexit vote.

Media reports suggest the attacker shouted “Britain First” during the attack, although this has not been verified. The words could be a reference to a pro-Brexit far-right party, which has distanced itself from the attack.

Analysts believe the attack could mean a swing towards a ‘remain’ vote in next week’s referendum; the markets are erring towards that view with fears of Brexit slightly lower.

Other factors in stronger sentiment Friday include a rebound for oil prices, which fell sharply in the previous session. Two major oil refiners are considering sales of facilities, including Chevron which may sell its plant in Burnaby, BC. Higher crude prices reduce margins for refiners and the potential sales by Chevron and Shell, could signal expectation of higher crude prices.

Asian markets closed higher following a stronger lead from Wall Street. Japan’s exporters were helped by a weakened yen.

European indexes are also higher with Brexit and oil in focus along with the better handover from Asia.
Wall Street and Toronto are expected to open higher.

Latest

1 month ago

1 year ago

North America (previous session)

US Dow Jones

17,733.10 (+0.53 per cent)

+1.16 per cent

-1.13 per cent

TSX Composite

13,882.41 (-0.29 per cent)

-0.25 per cent

-5.77 per cent

Europe (at 5.30am ET)

UK FTSE (previous)

6,028.23 (+1.31 per cent)

-2.26 per cent

-9.76 per cent

German DAX

9,672.54 (+1.28 per cent)

-2.20 per cent

-11.89 per cent

Asia (at close)

China CSI 300

3,110.36 (+0.51 per cent)

+0.79 per cent

-39.47 per cent

Japan Nikkei

15,599.66 (+1.07 per cent)

-6.32 per cent

-22.85 per cent

Other Data (at 5.30am ET)

Oil (Brent)

Oil (WTI)

Gold

Can. Dollar

48.11
(+1.95 per cent)

46.88
(+1.45 per cent)

1288.10
(-0.79 per cent)

U$0.7733

Aus. Dollar

U$0.7382

HSBC to pay $1.6 billion to end fraud probe
An investigation into global banking giant HSBC over its acquisition of mortgage and credit card lender Household International.

The allegations involve claims made about the financial strength of Household in the months before HSBC bought it.

A 2013 court judgment awarded $2.5 billion in damages following a class-action by former Household shareholders but this was overturned last year.

The settlement of $1.6 billion comes before a second trial was due to begin.